The Midlands Uprising of 1607 was, like earlier
rebellions, caused by
enclosures, and pressure
upon marginal smallholders to pay higher rents. Landlords
wanted to force them out and fence their fields, allowing
more efficient estate management, increased production, and
greater profits from the expanding market.

The nature of the protest and the government reaction to it
show two characteristic phenomena of the times: the popular
acceptance of the social and political hierarchy, and the
paternal* approach of the
government.

Authorities tried to alleviate stresses upon the poor largely
out of fear of their growing numbers. Proclamations were made
in the 1590s against exploitation by landlords; following the
Midland Revolt, the Council issued pardons to rioters and
fined some of the offending landowners in
Star
Chamber. As in other times of economic
crisis, Justices of the Peace swung
into action, enforcing corrective measures. They controlled
grain prices, distributed grain to needy areas, halted
exports, pressured hoarding farmers to market their
stockpiles, conserved grain supplies by restrictions on
brewers and alehouses, and ensured that poor relief was fully
administered.

Government sympathy for the poor did not, however, extend to
vagrants, as seen in the
following order to the mayor and aldermen of London during a
time of plague:

"That all masterless men who live idly in the city without
lawful calling, frequenting places of common assemblies, as
interludes, gaming-houses, cockpits, bowling alleys and such
other places, may be banished the city."

Acceptance of hierarchical order

The general pattern of such riots and revolts shows that
people with grievances first sought amends through their
local magistrates, complaining of their landlord's
"anti-social" behaviour. Only after these attempts were
frustrated did the poor act on their own, and even then they
did not challenge the established order but sought its proper
maintenance.

Popular acceptance of the social order shows the strength
with which the doctrine of deference and obedience was
instilled in Tudor and Stuart society. Through the Church,
the government taught that bad harvests were a divine
punishment for sins. Blame was directed at "middlemen," such
as capitalist entrepreneurs, whose large-scale production was
not for local consumption but for marketing in cities and
abroad (or was hoarded to bring profits
from inflation). Disturbances were most common in areas where
there was a productive grain trade rather than where the
suffering was greatest.

Click here to read about the uprising and one of
Shakespeare's plays*.

The uprising of 1607, and the fear it spread among the landed
gentry may have influenced Shakespeare in his portrayal of
the common people in Coriolanus, where they are
represented as hungering for grain, unruly and unreasonable.

Footnotes

Paternalism

Authorities tried to alleviate stresses upon the poor largely
out of fear of their growing numbers. Proclamations were made
in the 1590s against exploitation by landlords; following the
Midland Revolt, the Council issued pardons to rioters and
fined some of the offending landowners in
Star
Chamber. As in other times of economic
crisis, Justices of the Peace swung
into action, enforcing corrective measures. They controlled
grain prices, distributed grain to needy areas, halted
exports, pressured hoarding farmers to market their
stockpiles, conserved grain supplies by restrictions on
brewers and alehouses, and ensured that poor relief was fully
administered.

Government sympathy for the poor did not, however, extend to
vagrants, as seen in the
following order to the mayor and aldermen of London during a
time of plague:

"That all masterless men who live idly in the city without
lawful calling, frequenting places of common assemblies, as
interludes, gaming-houses, cockpits, bowling alleys and such
other places, may be banished the city."

Coriolanus

The uprising of 1607, and the fear it spread among the landed
gentry may have influenced Shakespeare in his portrayal of
the common people in Coriolanus, where they are
represented as hungering for grain, unruly and unreasonable.